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YATESVILLE — Nothing rattled Pittston Area sophomore guard JJ Walsh on Friday night.
Not the big crowd. Not the numerous cameras used to televise the game locally. Not an opponent riding a seven-game winning streak.
Walsh blocked all of it out as he nailed eight 3-pointers as part of his 33-point performance as Pittston Area defeated Dallas 66-59 in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 boys basketball opener for both teams.
“I made my first two and my teammates kept giving me the ball,” said Walsh, who benefited from couple passes by senior Brennan Higgins in the third quarter that allowed the Patriots some space. “I kept making them and kept shooting them.”
Pittston Area improved to 1-0 in the division and 6-3 overall, with one loss by a point and another by three points. However, first-year coach Al Semenza remained cautious despite the solid start.
“But we also won a two-point game and a one-point game,” said Semenza, a veteran coach from the Lackawanna League. “Everybody tells me that, but I look at the other side of it. I think every night in this division is going to be just like it was tonight. You got to make the plays down the stretch and we didn’t play too smart down the stretch.”
Pittston Area saw an 11-point lead with 1:34 left dwindle to 63-56 with just under a minute left after Dallas’ Austin Finarelli hit two technical free throws. The Mountaineers, though, couldn’t capitalize on their next possession and Pittston Area scored four consecutive points to seal the win.
Plus, the Patriots looked shaky to start the second half, fouling Dallas’ Jack Farrell on a 3-point shot. Farrell knocked down all three free throws to give the Mountaineers a 31-27 lead and the momentum.
Pittston Area recovered a few minutes later when Walsh tied the score 35-35 with a 3-pointer and Higgins connected on a drive to give his team the lead for good. Walsh and Higgins then teamed up twice as part of the 12-2 run.
Higgins found Walsh cutting on the baseline for an inside basket and a kickout pass to Walsh for another 3-pointer boosted the lead to 44-37.
“You’ve got to be five as one to beat a great team line that,” Walsh said. “That’s what we did tonight. They knew I had the hot hand and they kept on finding me.”
Dallas (1-0, 7-2) cut the deficit to 46-43 entering the fourth, but Pittston Area put on another burst capped by Mike George’s spin move to the hoop at 5:08. The Patriots maintained a lead of at least nine points for the next four minutes.
Farrell led Dallas with 28 points. He and fellow starters Luke DelGaudio and Dylan Schuster got a late start on the season as they were all starters on the football team which played in the PIAA Class 4A state championship game.
“I’m happy with the progress of the team,” Dallas coach Mark Belenski said. “We’re going to improve. We’re a pretty good basketball team and they just beat us today. We’ll be ready.”
Wolfpack win league opener
Cole Walker cut loose for 18 points, Blake Masher finished with 16 and the Wilkes-Barre Area Wolfpack opened their first season of WVC boys basketball play by pulling away in the second half for a 63-33 victory over Wyoming Valley West in front of a packed house at the Valley West gym.
Masker scored 10 points in the first half and Walker hit for nine points over the first two quarters to get the new Wilkes-Barre Area merger of players from Coughlin, GAR and Meyers out to a solid start with a 28-21 lead at intermission.
But Wilkes-Barre Area put its WVC opener away with outstanding defense that smothered the Spartans in a four-point third quarter and with ball-sharing with balanced scoring that left the Wolfpack with a 45-25 advantage heading into the fourth.
Walker blocked at least five shots in the second half and Masker fueled Wilkes-Barre Area’s 17-4 third quarter with six points, while Saquan Portee added five points in the period and Brandon Hall tossed in four.
Hall added 10 points in the victory and Walker finished with 14 rebounds.
Justin Simpson led Valley West with 12 points — all in the first half to keep the Spartans within striking distance.
Crestwood 63, Berwick 32
Ryan Petrosky scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half as the Comets built a 24-point lead by the break while battering the Bulldogs.
Brad Papura and Jared Zaleski each scored 10 points for Crestwood, which limited the Bulldogs to 10 points over the first two quarters.
Peyton Williams led Berwick with nine points.
Holy Redeemer 67, Wyoming Area 43
Justice Shoats scored 26 points and Mason Mendygral tossed in 20 more as the Royals roared past the Warriors.
Shoats hit all of his points by the end of the third quarter, leading Redeemer to a 53-23 advantage. Mendygral swished four of his six 3-point field goals in the opening quarter as the Royals stormed out to a 22-10 lead after the opening eight minutes.
Sammy Solomon led Wyoming Area with 17 points.
Hanover Area 55, Northwest 30
Asad Whitehead and Khairi Carson combined for 28 points and the Hawkeyes dominated the Rangers from the outset.
Whitehead scored the final nine of his game-high 15 points in the second half and Carson hit the first seven of his 13 points over the opening two quarters to get Hanover Area off to a strong start.
Walker Yaple and Matt Saxe both scored 10 points for the Rangers.
Wyoming Seminary 51, Tunkhannock 37
Ethan Meuser, Jeremy Callahan and Todd Phillips combined to score 36 points in a balanced offensive attack that carried the Blue Knights to victory.
Sem methodically built a six-point halftime lead, then broke it open when Meuser and Callahan each scored four points in a 15-5 third quarter.
Meuser led the crew with 13 points, Callahan finished with 12 and Phillips had seven of his 11 in the second quarter.
Ryan Harder led Tunkhannock with 12 points.
Hazleton Area 72, Nanticoke Area 26
Scott Campbell poured in all 12 of his points in the opening quarter and Angel Cruz added seven of his game-high 13 in the period as the Cougars opened a 22-4 lead after eight minutes and coasted from there.
The Hazleton Area defense held the Trojans to 10 points in the opening half and to single digits in every quarter.
Josian Guerra Figuero and Chris Garcia both finished with nine points for Hazleton Area and Andrew Vayda and Jawardt Nieves each added eight in the victory.
Jake Krupinski finished with eight points for Nanticoke Area.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Lake-Lehman 64, MMI Prep 15
Claire Dougherty and Sarah Salus combined for 28 points and the Black Knights held MMI Prep to two points through the entire first half while cruising to victory in the WVC Division 2 opener for both.
Salus scored eight points over the first eight minutes, Dougherty and Chase Purdy each hit six and Lehman built an early 24-point lead by shutting out the Preppers through the first period.
Lia Keefe added nine points for Lehman and Purdy finished with eight in the win.
Irene Altmiller, who scored MMI’s first points with a bucket in the second quarter, led the Preppers with eight points.
Pittston Area 66, Dallas 59
DALLAS (59): Austin Finarelli 2 4-6 8, Nick Nocito 4 2-2 12, Luke DelGaudio 1 3-4 5, Jack Farrell 11 3-3 28, Sam Nocito 0 0-0 0, Dylan Schuster 1 4-6 6, Michael Bufalino 0 0-0 0, Logan Evanofsky 0 0-0 0. Totals: 29 26-32 59.
PITTSTON AREA (66): Logan Booth 2 0-0 4, Mike George 3 1-4 8, JJ Walsh 10 5-5 33, Brennan Higgins 5 6-8 17, Andrew Krawczyk 1 0-0 2, Adam Penxa 0 0-0 0, Joe Cencetti 1 0-0 2, Matt Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 12-17 66.
Dallas`16`12`15`16 — 59
Pittston Area`18`9`19`20 — 66
Three-point goals: DAL 5 (Farrell 3, N.Nocito 2). PA 10 (George, Walsh 8, Higgins).
Wilkes-Barre Area 63, Valley West 33
WILKES-BARRE (63) — Saquan Portee 3 0-0 8, Jean Rodriguez 0 0-0 0, Cole Walker 6 5-5 18, Jihad Yancey 1 0-0 2, Matt Edigio 1 0-0 2, Talee Swinney 0 0-0 0, Brandon Hall 3 4-5 10, Shaun Valenzuela 1 0-0 2, Mikey Senape 1 0-0 2, Blake Masker 7 2-2 16, Jack Gilgallon 1 0-0 3, Naquan Hollman 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 11-12 63.
VALLEY WEST (33) — Justus Simpson 4 0-0 12, Christian Michak 0 0-0 0, Joey Lombardo 1 0-0 3, Jordan Redguard 0 0-0 0, Jumur Johnson 0 1-2 1, Roland Hamad 2 0-0 4, Dante Rhodes 0 0-0 0, Steve Barber 0 0-0 0, Sam McNeill 2 0-0 4, Tyler Gillespie 2 0-0 4, Cole Gorham 2 1-2 5. Totals 13 2-4 33.
Wilkes-Barre`15`13`17`18 — 63
Valley West`14`7`4`8 — 33
Three-point goals — WBA 4 (Portee 2, Walker, Gilgallon); WVW 5 (Simpson 4, Lombardo).
Crestwood 63, Berwick 32
CRESTWOOD (63) — Brandon Niemenski 2 0-1 4, Mike Zaleski 2 1-2 6, Ryan Petrosky 6 4-4 18, Marcus Vieney 0 0-0 0, Nick Ruggeri 2 0-1 5, Paul Feisel 1 0-0 3, Brad Papura 4 2-4 10, Jacob Zaleski 3 2-2 10, Bryce Wyda 0 0-0 0, Sam Balliet 1 0-0 2, Zayne Dunsmir 1 0-0 2, Don Shaw 0 3-5 3. Totals 22 12-19 63.
BERWICK (32) — Brayden Boone 0 0-1 0, Sean Murphy 2 0-0 5, Devon Smith 0 0-0 0, Ryen Steele 1 0-0 2, Miles Doll 2 0-1 4, Peyton Williams 4 1-4 9, Alex Peters 0 0-0 0, Tahsjee Taylor 2 0-0 4, Blane Cleaver 3 2-8 8, Eric Montes 0 0-2 0. Totals 14 3-16 32.
Crestwood`19`15`15`14 — 63
Berwick`6`4`10`12 — 32
Three-point goals — CRE 7 (Petrosky 2, J. Zaleski 2, M. Zaleski, Feisel, Ruggeri); BER 1 (Murphy).
Holy Redeemer 67, Wyoming Area 43
HOLY REDEEMER (67) — Mason Mendygral 7 0-0 20, Josh Kester 0 0-0 0, Zev Korfeld 0 0-0 0, Justice Shoats 9 6-7 26, Darryl Wright 1 0-0 2, Matt Carty 1 1-2 3, Alex Hijkowski 1 0-0 2, Jared Piontkowski 6 0-2 12, Alex Ryman 0 0-0 0, Prince Allan 0 0-0 0, Jake Pizzolato 0 0-0 0, Matt Prociak 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 7-11 67.
WYOMING AREA (43) — Cole Coolbaugh 3 0-0 8, Jake Greenfield 1 0-1 3, Jesse Mikoliczyk 2 3-4 7, Sammy Solomon 6 4-6 17, Evan Melberger 2 0-0 5, Matt Sorick 0 0-0 0, FJ Braccini 0 0-0 0, Jason Wiedl 0 0-0 0, Matt Little 1 0-0 3, Dylan Petrucci 0 0-0 0, Caden Bonita 0 0-1 0. Totals 15 7-12 43.
Holy Redeemer`22`9`22`14 — 67
Wyoming Area`10`13`10`10 — 43
Three-point goals — HR 8 (Mendygral 6, Shoats 2); WA 6 (Coolbaugh 2, Melberger, Greenfield, Solomon, Little).
Hanover Area 55, Northwest 30
HANOVER AREA (55) — Asad Whitehead 6 3-7 15, Khairi Carson 5 1-2 13, Auggie George 1 2-2 4, Joe Curcio 2 2-3 6, Mike Merth 1 0-0 3, Todd Kolbicka 2 0-0 6, Ryan Bohlin 0 0-0 0, Bobby Sabecky 0 0-0 0, Jake Zola 2 0-0 4, Charles Cribbs 0 0-0 0, Jeremy Fondeur 1 2-2 4. Totals 20 10-16 55.
NORTHWEST (30) — Walker Yaple 4 1-1 10, Matt Saxe 3 1-4 10, Matt Pierontoni 1 0-0 2, Landon Hufford 0 0-0 0, Chase Biller 1 0-0 2, Gary McLendon 0 1-2 1, John Savakinus 0 0-0 0, Karam 0 0-0 0, Mike Crawford 1 2-2 5, Alex Kopco 0 0-0 0, Carter Hontz 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 5-9 30.
Hanover Area`11`14`15`15 — 55
Northwest`5`8`5`12 — 30
Three-point goals — HAN 5 (George 2, Zola 2, Fondeur); NW 5 (Pierontoni 3, Yaple, Crawford).
Wyoming Sem 51, Tunkhannock 37
TUNKHANNOCK (37) — Ryan Harder 5 0-0 12, Ben Chilson 0 0-0 0, Chris Trachak 1 0-1 2, Dave Baltrusaitus 0 0-0 0, Jack Chilson 2 5-6 9, Jake Frisco 3 1-1 8, Trejan Turner 1 0-0 2, Paul Binner 1 0-0 2, Jaren Robinson 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 6-8 37.
WYOMING SEM (51) — Alex Meuser 2 1-1 6, Todd Phillips 4 2-3 11, Jeremy Callahan 3 5-7 12, Ethan Meuser 6 1-2 13, Andrew Maddock 0 0-0 0, Gavin Flanley 0 0-0 0, Aiden Murphy 4 1-2 9. Totals 19 10-15 51.
Tunkhannock`10`10`5`12 — 37
Wyoming Sem`14`12`15`10 — 51
Three-point goals — TUN 3 (Harder 2, Frisco); SEM 3 (Phillips, A. Meuser, Callahan).
Hazleton Area 72, Nanticoke Area 26
NANTICOKE AREA (26) — Sincere Shiloh 1 0-0 2, Luke Myers 0 0-0 0, J.J. Bielecki 3 0-0 7, Colby Butczynski 1 0-2 2, Collin Brown 0 0-0 0, John Chernowski 1 0-0 3, Owen Brown 1 0-0 2, Jake Krupinski 3 2-4 8, Andrew Kozlofski 0 0-0 0, Tyuler Rushton 0 0-0 0, Joe Fox 1 0-2 2, Ethan Egenski 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 2-8 26.
HAZLETON AREA (72) — Kevin Gil 0 0-0 0, Andrew Vayda 4 0-1 8, Jostin Gonzalez 0 0-0 0, Johathan Joseph 0 0-0 0, Scott Campbell 4 2-2 12, Ryan Fisher 0 0-0 0, Breet Antolick 1 1-2 3, Matthew Cusatis 0 0-0 0, Jawardt Nieves 4 0-0 8, Josian Guerra Figuero 3 3-4 9, Chris Garcia 3 0-0 9, Deylis Rodriguez 2 0-0 4, Angel Cruz 5 3-3 13, Dewin Concepcion 2 2-2 6. Totals 28 11-14 72.
H.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL
Lake-Lehman 64, MMI Prep 15
LAKE-LEHMAN (64) — Lia Keefe 4 0-0 9, Marissa Brdaric 0 0-0 0, Madison Brdaric 0 0-0 0, Krista Scoblick 2 0-2 4, Hailey Kline 3 0-0 6, Claire Dougherty 7 1-2 15, Sarah Salus 6 0-0 13, Gia Keefe 2 0-0 4, Melanie Selner 0 0-0 0, Chase Purdy 3 2-2 8, Autumn Savitski 1 3-4 5. Totals 28 6-10 64.
MMI PREP (15) — Violet O’Connell 0 0-0 0, Sadie Cloud 0 0-0 0, Lindsay Braunstein 0 0-0 0, Dominique Kline 0 0-0 0, Kim Amentler 2 0-2 4, Julie Amentler 0 0-0 0, Irene Altmiller 3 1-2 8, Alexis Dalesandro 1 0-0 3. Totals 6 1-4 15.
Lake-Lehman`24`21`9`10 — 64
MMI Prep`0`2`8`5 — 15
Three-point goals — LL 2 (Keefe, Salus); MMI 2 (Dalesandro, I. Altmiller).
